


Swimmer in Distress

by lexyloo



Series: Baewatch [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Lifeguards, Daddy Issues, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mentions of past abuse, Swimming
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2020-12-28 10:23:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21135161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lexyloo/pseuds/lexyloo
Summary: **CURRENTLY ON HIATUS** (so sorry) When looking for a job between semesters at Trost University, Jean has life-guarding thrust upon him, along with a beautiful freckled boy, some new friends, and too many old men in ill-fitting speedos.Jean's POV in the Baewatch series





	1. The Interview

Never--I repeat, NEVER--would I have imagined myself trying to become a lifeguard. The red swim trunks, the endless yelling of “WALK!” at crazy little children, the whole being-responsible-for-other-people’s-lives thing? Definitely not my kind of scene. Yet, somehow, I still managed to find myself waiting in line outside the local aquatics center, both application and resume in hand.

My name is Jean Kirstein, and I’m a student at Trost University studying business. However, with the spring semester having recently come to an end, I needed a way to make a quick buck so I wouldn’t be completely mooching off my parents over the summer. Usually I had a pretty consistent gig set up at a local warehouse for seasonal work, but after nearly getting _fucking decapitated_ by one of those damned forklifts (I swear, they let anything that can breathe operate those things), I got my ass out of there. A week later, the aquatics center announced that there was a drastic shortage of lifeguards and they were hiring immediately with the necessary training offered for free. And while lifeguarding wasn’t my first career choice (or second, or third, or fourth…), I was surprisingly qualified for it: I swam for a local club team a few years back, and had a bit of first aid knowledge handy as well.

Of course, I was a bit embarrassed about having to fall back on lifeguarding as a summer job. I mean, wasn’t lifeguarding supposed to be a high-school thing? Most of the people waiting in line with me looked like they were still waiting for puberty to come knocking on the door, so I felt pretty awkward standing there as a sophomore in college. Hell, most of these kids still had their parents standing in line with them. I guess desperate times called for desperate measures.

After plenty of waiting around, I finally got to the front of the line. The woman at the desk seemed to be in her late twenties and had a set of wide-rimmed glasses that kept slipping down her nose ever so slightly. The nameplate on her desk read _Petra Ral_.

“Here for a lifeguard opening?” She asked with a smile. I nodded. “Perfect, if you go down the hallway on your left, you’ll find your interviewer waiting at a table.”

I flinched. Interview? I thought this was just going to be a simple “hand in your resume and hop on board” kind of thing. I sure as hell wasn’t ready to actually _interview_ for the position--especially not in ripped jeans and wrinkled t-shirt.

Petra seemed to notice my hesitation. “Don’t stress it,” she said with a small laugh. “It’s not really a professional interview. It’s just for the sake of doing it. You’ll be fine.”

I nodded to her again and mumbled a small “thank you” as I made my way down the hall. As nice and (almost) reassuring as she was, I still found myself nervous. I was never the best at being charismatic by any means--even my mom joked that I was born with resting bitch face. I also tend to stumble over every other word that comes out of my mouth when I’m nervous. In short, interviews never really went well for me.

Once I got outside the room, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before opening the door. In the center of the room was a plastic fold-out table with a couple of papers haphazardly strewn across it. There were two folding chairs set out on opposite sides of the table, one empty and one with a guy about my age who was slouched over looking down at his phone. I gulped and headed towards my untimely doom.

I sat down in the chair across from the mystery man who was still staring intently at his phone. I’m pretty sure my heart was racing so fast that anybody within a fifteen foot radius would have heard it thumping away in my chest. Yet, somehow the guy across from me was still lost in whatever was on his phone, eyebrows slightly furrowed. Who knows how long I sat there before finally deciding to grow a pair and get his attention. 

“Uh, hey… Are you the guy I’m supposed to be interviewing with?” I asked. The man across from me bolted upright, eyes wide open as if he had just been caught committing some awful crime.

Now, if you were to ask me to describe what a stereotypical lifeguard looks like, it would have been nothing short of the man in front of me. His skin was deeply tanned from numerous days out in the sun, and a mix of freckles and sun spots were dusted across his face. And although he was wearing a gray polo shirt, you could still see the outlines of his musculature. He would have probably fit in perfectly with the cast of Baywatch.

He blushed a bit and began rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “Ah, jeez. Sorry about that. It’s been a bit crazy today. How long have you been sitting there?” 

“N-not that long,” I lied.

He recovered quickly after I said that and began to look more relaxed. “Okay, well that’s good! Let’s get started then. My name is Marco Bodt and I’m one of the head guards here.” He stuck out his hand and gave me an eager smile.

I took his hand and shook it, silently hoping that he didn’t notice how sweaty and clammy mine was. “I’m Jean, nice to meet you.” I noticed the slight quiver of my voice as I spoke, and I’m sure Marco did, too. _Damn you, nervousness_.

“Jean…” He said, as if trying to feel out my name by repeating it… it sounded nice coming from him for some reason. “Interesting name, I’ve never heard it said like that before. Can I see your application and resume if you have one?”

I gave him the two papers I had been holding (which were now slightly crumpled thanks to my nerves) and sat rigidly in the chair. Marco took them and began looking intently through each one, mumbling a bit as he went. Occasionally he would see something he liked or noticed, and his face would light up as he asked some sort of follow-up question.

“Oh, you swam for the Sheena swim club? When did you quit?”

“Around my junior year in high school, I think.”

“Any reason why?”

“Uh… Money and time, I guess.”

“Interesting.”

This carried on until he finally finished going through both sheets. He then gently tapped them on the table and shrugged his shoulders a bit, sighing slightly.

“Well Jean, it seems like you’re qualified for the position,” Marco said while looking at the papers still in his hands. “But, I have one question for you before I can approve you for training next week.”

I gulped. _Please, PLEASE don’t be “Why do you want to be a lifeguard?”_

“Tell me, why do you want to be a lifeguard?”

Fuck.

I sat there for a moment, debating whether I should try to lie my way through the question. I could try the “my dad was a lifeguard and he saved thirty drowning babies all at the same time, and I’ve always wanted to be just like him,” or the “I want to be a hero and save lives, just like the man who saved me from choking on a sour skittle when I was five.” If you couldn’t already tell, I’m an awful liar.

Marco blinked at me, waiting for an answer. I eventually gave up on trying to think of an intricate lie and blurted out the next thing that came to my mind.

“I… uh… like... water.”

In case I hadn’t said this yet, _I fucking hate interviews_.

Marco stared at me for another moment, mouth slightly open as if he couldn’t believe that a grown-ass man gave such a shit answer. But then he leaned back, and just kinda started… laughing? It started off as a small chuckle, but then grew into what could only be described as a genuine belly laugh. I felt my face burn and absolutely refused to look up from the ground; I didn’t think it was THAT bad of an answer, but _yikes_.

Eventually, Marco got ahold of himself, catching his breath. “Oh, jeez, sorry for laughing. I’ll add you to the training list.” I looked up at him, my face still burning. He simply beamed at me.

“Oh, uh… Really?”

Marco laughed again. “Really.”

We talked a little bit longer about the next steps in the hiring process, but I was still reeling from the fact that my dumbass didn’t completely blow it. Wait, that’s a lie. I completely blew it, but for some reason, Marco decided to have mercy on me.

He gave me a sheet of paper that had the schedule for the upcoming lifeguard training sessions and sent me on my way. I got in my car and took a quick look at the paper, only to notice in the lower margins a small chunk of scribbles.

_Here’s my number if you need anything!  
-Marco, 619-221-8824_


	2. Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean tries to be less rusty at swimming

Week 1 Part 2: Reunited

_“Jean, I’m not going to keep paying for you to just be second best! You act like you don’t even want to--”_

_“I’m trying my best! My shoulder just can’t--”_

_“You aren’t trying hard enough!”_

_I was fighting back tears; my shoulder was killing me, I had just lost to Eren Jaeger in the 100m butterfly which was arguably my best stroke, and my dad was acting as if I had just personally attacked him. I sat in the hallway with my father yelling as I shivered, a small puddle forming at my feet as water continued to drip off me._

_“You know I’m doing everything I can!”_

_“Don’t give me that bullshit. If you were then you’d be winning!”_

_“Then don’t believe me, Dad! But you can’t treat me like shit because I’m having a bad season--”_

_SLAP!_

_I sat in stunned silence, eyes wide and the side of my face burning. It was as if time stopped._

_“Don’t you dare tell me what I can and can’t do, Jean.”_

***  
I woke up in a cold sweat, shivering as I found myself upright in bed. My room was dark, with only the faint light of my alarm clock which read 5:23am. _Too fucking early for this daddy-issues bullshit._ I silently thanked the stars that my mom and dad had since divorced, and that he now lived on the other side of town. 

Since there was no point in trying to go back to sleep, I begrudgingly headed to the restroom and took the grumpiest piss of my life. After finishing up my business I took a look in the mirror. My hair was an absolute mess, and the corners of my eyes were crusted with sleep. Morning Jean had definitely seen better days. There was a sheet of paper taped to the mirror that was titled _LIFEGUARD TRAINING SCHEDULE._ I was then suddenly reminded that _holy shit, I begin training tomorrow._

Now, despite my usual I-couldn’t-give-less-of-a-fuck demeanor, I figured that I should at least try to prepare a bit for the upcoming training week. According to the schedule that Marco gave me, the training week would run over the course of five days. Day one consisted of physical tests that ensured we knew how to swim, while days two, three, and four made up basic training in water rescues and other first aid needs. The final day was reserved for testing. Seemed easy enough.

Even though I had some pretty decent swimming experience under my belt, I hadn’t really gone near any kind of body of water since… well, guess you know. So, the day before the training week started, I decided to dust the cobwebs out and get back into the water.

I made my way to the local swimming pool that morning with a towel, a set of old goggles, and two crumpled dollar bills for the entrance fee. The lady at the register (rather, the dingy old metal box that was _ supposed_ to be the register) was in the middle of stuffing her face with a bagel as I walked up.

“Ah, awh yuh nuh hee?” Crumbs came tumbling out of her mouth as she attempted to speak. My obvious confusion--and disgust--led her to quickly swallowing whatever was left and trying again. “Sorry! I’m still trying to finish breakfast. Are you new here?”

“Um, not new, really. But it’s been a few years.”

“Okay, you’re new to me then! I’m Sasha, and I’m the head guard on duty right now,” She said diligently. Are all lifeguards this bubbly? ‘Cause if so, this gig was definitely not going to work out.

“Jean. I’m just here to swim,” I deadpanned back, handing her my two dollars. She seemed a bit taken aback by this, but nevertheless gave me a smile while taking my money.

“Well I hope it’s a good one!”

I gave her a nod and quickly shuffled over towards the pool. I just didn’t get how people could constantly be so _cheerful_. It takes so much energy, you know? Especially if you’re having to fake it the whole time. Just seems like a wasted effort.

I made my way to the swimming lanes and sat on the edge of the pool, gently placing my legs into the water. The coolness was surprisingly tame; cool enough to be refreshing, but not to the point of turning you into a shivering mess. I slid the rest of the way in, my eyes burning from the chlorine as I submerged myself underwater. _ Dumbass, you forgot to put your goggles on_. I resurfaced and reached with one hand for the edge where I had left my goggles, using my other hand to rub the water out of my eyes. It was then that I noticed the lifeguard on duty staring at me. He seemed to be shorter than me, but close to my age. His hair was buzzed pretty close to his head, and he had a set of sunglasses on with thick, neon-green rims. I scowled.

I put my goggles on and submerged myself underwater once again, this time without my eyes dying. The light shimmered gently underneath the surface, with small rays gleaming off the bottom of the pool. I could feel myself floating effortlessly.

I didn’t realize how much I had missed this.

I resurfaced again and stood near the edge of the pool. _Should I warm up first or something?_ I considered it briefly, but ultimately decided fuck it, let’s dive right in. I kicked off the wall--_oh GOD it’s been too long, that form was ATROCIOUS_\--and began freestyling with my face down in the water. 

It felt horrible; my core wasn’t stable, my arms were rounding out too much inbetween strokes, and lord knows what the fuck my legs were doing. But at the same time, it felt _incredible._ Despite my completely shit form, I was cruising down the swimming lane at a surprising speed. I could hear the water rushing by me as I continued. And better yet, my shoulder wasn’t hurting anymore. I lost track of everything and just embraced the moment. I felt _free._

_THUNK!_

Maybe a little too free.

I hissed, holding my head as I resurfaced. My dumbass forgot there was _a wall at the other fucking end of the pool_, and of course I decided to ram my head at full speed into it. I could overhear the lifeguard with the neon sunglasses laughing at me. Asshole.

“Damn dude, you were looking pretty good ‘til you decided to act like a battering ram!” He said as his laughter subsided. I scowled again.

“Look, man, I’m a bit rusty. Give me a break,” I spat back sourly. I pulled myself out of the water, still grimacing from the new aching sensation at the top of my head.

“Holy shit, wait a second,” the guard said, taking off his sunglasses. “Jean, is that you?”

I froze. How the hell did this asshat know me?

“Dude, it’s me! Connie! From the Sheena swim club?”

Now, it would be no exaggeration to say that my mind imploded on itself. Connie. My old teammate at Sheena. And definitely my closest friend from there. I hadn’t seen him in years. It really was him.

Jean.exe has stopped working.

Connie eagerly got off the stand and practically sprinted to where I was (you could hear Sasha yelling “Connie, get back on stand!” from the other side of the pool). When he got to me, he tackled me with a bear hug, throwing both of us in the pool. That snapped me back to reality.

We both came back up gasping for air. Connie was smiling at me like an absolute madman. And, surprisingly, I wasn’t angry (that’s a lie; I was pissed, but my pissiness was completely overwhelmed by the joy of seeing Connie again). Instead of kicking his ass, I returned his smile with one of my own, laughing as I pulled myself out of the water.

“Connie! Oh my god, I haven’t seen you in forever!”

“You’re telling me! I thought you had died or something!”

Sasha ran over to us to see what the commotion was about (“Connie! You can’t just tackle patrons into the pool!”) and agreed to cover the stand for Connie after berating him for acting like a total idiot. We took a couple of minutes to catch up. He told me he was in community college for the time being, but planned on transferring to Trost University for his junior year. He was just starting his second summer lifeguarding. I filled him in a bit on my life as well and told him about the lifeguarding gig.

“What?! No way! It’ll be just like old times! I’m helping with the training group, so I’ll see you out there,” Connie beamed, punching me in the shoulder. I laughed again.

“Yeah, sounds like fun.”

Then a bit of silence came between us, and Connie looked at me with concern.

“Hey man, not gonna lie. I was worried about you. You kinda… disappeared after, uh… what happened with your dad. I tried to get ahold of you to see if you were okay back then, but you deleted everything. You even changed your number.”

I winced a bit at that. I never really realized that anybody actually knew what happened, but it made sense; we were in a hallway just outside of the pool. Of course people saw. I wasn’t too keen on the subject.

“Yeah. I went through a bit of a, uh, rough time. I’d rather not talk about it right now.”

Another bit of silence drifted between us. And then Connie hesitantly spoke again.

“Are you… doing okay now?”

It was kinda crazy to think about. Hadn’t seen the kid in three years, but still as concerned as ever--as if… we were still friends.

I looked out at the pool. Huh. More often than not, I would have simply said yes, that I was “okay.” I had kept going with my life--but in reality, things were never the same after what happened. My dad made me drop the swim team unexpectedly after the incident since he refused to pay for it anymore, and that was one of the only things I truly enjoyed in life; I defined myself as a swimmer. That was my identity, one of my greatest reasons for living. And I had gone without it for three years, questioning my self worth constantly.

And don’t even get me started on these stupid fucking daddy issues now.

“Not completely okay,” I said. _And not sure I’ll ever be,_ I thought to myself. “But I’m still getting better, I think.”

Connie gave me a soft smile at that. “Well hey, if you ever need anything, now you know where to find me! And let’s not have you disappear on me for another three years, okay?”

“Yeah, sounds good. I like that plan.”

***  
After getting Connie’s number, I headed home. I didn’t realize how long I had stayed at the pool for; it was getting close to dinner time, and I had a bit of a sunburn across my face and shoulders. When I arrived, my mom had already left for a date but made dinner (bless that woman) and had a plate served for me at the table. My stomach growled mercilessly; it was then that I realized I hadn’t even eaten breakfast that day--let alone lunch.

After scarfing down dinner, I took a shower and threw myself into bed. I looked over at my alarm clock; it flashed a solemn 9:33pm. Huh, it was surprisingly early and I was completely exhausted. Yet for some reason my chest was filled with a strange excitement; I’d go swimming again tomorrow for the start of the training week, and I’d be able to start hanging out with Connie again.

It was the first time in a while that I fell asleep looking forward to the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love me some daddy issues.
> 
> To anybody who read past the first chapter, thanks. I love you. Hope you stick around for some more.

**Author's Note:**

> :)


End file.
